Mississippi residents detail the damage of deadly tornadoes that flattened town: 'Totally turned upside down'

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Mississippi pastor holds worship service after string of deadly tornadoes

Pastor Britt Williamson and his daughter Maggie Williamson joined 'Fox & Friends Weekend' to discuss how their community is battling the aftermath of the devastating weekend that left at least 26 people dead across the South. 

Communities in the rural South are reeling after a string of deadly weekend tornadoes took the lives of at least 26 people, but even after the unparalleled devastation, it hasn't shattered one community's faith in the Lord. 

One Mississippi pastor is holding a church service in wake of the disastrous weekend in hopes of bringing his congregation together at a time when they need it most. 

Britt Williamson is the pastor at First Baptist Church in Rolling Fork, a town that was nearly leveled by the cataclysmic, EF-4 storm.  

He joined "Fox & Friends Weekend" on Sunday to discuss why he decided to hold a worship service as the community begins to navigate a journey to healing from the devastation. 

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"We as a church leadership just thought it was important to give people in the community a time to come and be encouraged by the word of the Lord, the presence of the Lord," Britt told Will Cain on Sunday. "Have a time of worship. Have a time of prayer, and in the midst of this devastation, in the midst of this storm, to give people some comfort and some hope and the presence of the Lord."

"Because this is not something that's going to be a week or two-week recovery. It's going to be months, if not years," he continued. 

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, R., issued a state of emergency after the weekend's series of fatal tornadoes, and President Biden said Saturday he is offering "full federal support as communities recover." 

Emergency rescuers and first responders climb through a tornado demolished mobile home park looking for bodies that might be buried in the piles of debris, insulation, and home furnishings, Saturday morning, March 25, 2023, in Rolling Fork, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

He said that he has spoken with Reeves, the state's congressional delegation and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.

"Jill and I are praying for those who have lost loved ones in the devastating tornadoes in Mississippi and for those whose loved ones are missing," Biden said in a statement. "The images from across Mississippi are heartbreaking. While we are still assessing the full extent of the damage, we know that many of our fellow Americans are not only grieving for family and friends, they’ve lost their homes and businesses."

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"It's total devastation. It's wreckage like I've never seen. It's only a miracle of God that there are not hundreds of fatalities in our town and in our area," Britt said. "It's houses leveled, houses completely destroyed... The majority of the businesses in our small town are completely destroyed. It's just terrible wreckage."

Britt's daughter, Maggie, detailed the horror her classmates had to face following the storms, claiming they pulled bodies "out of all the wreckage."

"Most of the guys that I go to school with, high school... the night it hit, they pulled dead bodies out of all the wreckage, and they just had to sit them down and keep looking," Maggie said. "I know that really took an effect on them."

Insulation and tin are seen stuck and wrapped around the remains of trees near the intersection of Highways 25 and 6 in Amory Miss., Saturday, March 25, 2023, after it was hit by a severe storm the night before. (AP Photo/Jim Lytle)

"Also, I think all my friends' houses are okay, but one of them, the roof is completely gone, and people are just having to move away and stuff like that," she continued. 

FOX Weather reported the first deadly tornado ripped through Rolling Fork, Mississippi, and continued through Silver City, yielding a path of destruction that was around 59 miles long, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). 

Dozens were injured and thousands have been left without power, and officials expect those estimates to continue to climb. 

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"It's very overwhelming to see what's going on," Superintendent of Education of Amory Schools Brian Jones said earlier on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend.’ "A lot of damage was done. I can say that we have great community support and a lot of people coming from different places to try to help."

"The debris is scattered all throughout our city, and it did a lot of damage," he continued. 

Jones noted Sunday that children in Amory will likely not have school for at least a couple of days as the community continues to "assess" the damage left by the storm. 

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The outbreak extended into Alabama and Tennessee, producing tornado-warned storms in the neighboring states into Saturday morning. One man was killed in Alabama after his trailer home flipped multiple times.

"If I could just say, ask the people of our country to continue to pray for us and to find ways to help us and know that… our towns are very resilient people," Britt said. "We are people that help each other with people are there for each other, and we need help because many of those people that do those things on a daily basis have had their lives totally turned upside down." 

"We're going to we're going to trust in Jesus through this process and let him walk with us through the storm," he continued. 

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Residents and business owners in the four Mississippi counties who experienced loss can apply for assistance at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling 800-621-3362 or by using the FEMA App.

Fox News' Elizabeth Pritchett, Julia Musto, and Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report.